reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (09/20/84)
School is coming back into session, the leaves are beginning to turn colors,
the weather is getting cooler (well, not in LA, but most everywhere else),
and the football season has started. Now comes the final sign of the approach
of autumn and the recession of summer: serious Hollywood movies. Hollywood
release patterns have a certain bizarre sense to them. According to the
studios' wisdom, people want slambang action in the summer, more of the same
at Christmas, they won't see anything, no matter what, in winter, and their
minds turn to serious things in fall. Well, I guess it works, but it sure
sounds strange to me. At any rate, here's the season's first serious film,
with a capital S: "A Soldier's Story".
"A Soldier's Story" is a real Hollywood rarity: a film about blacks. Moreover,
it is a serious film and tries to deal with important issues of prejudice.
The story is set in 1944, at an Army training post in the deep south. This
post is reserved for training the army's black soldiers, segregated into
separate units, lead by white officers and black NCOs. The most senior of
those black NCOs is Sgt. Waters. Waters is a career army man who has developed
a deep hatred for the type of black man he sees as a shame to his race. This
translates to most blacks from the deep south. Early in the film, Waters is
murdered. The officer Washington sends to investigate is Capt. Davenport,
one of the army's very few black officers. His appointment is seen by the
white officers as a dangerous choice, as the superficial evidence points to
the Ku Klux Klan, and the more hidden clues suggest some of those white
officers.
Davenport isn't willing to settle for easy answers. He wants nothing less
than the truth. His investigations uncover just what a damaged man Waters
was, and the harm he did to others. Eventually, the truth is revealed. The
black units finally are sent off to fight Hitler, as they all lust to do, to
prove their worth. (The stage play from which this film was adapted chillingly
undercut their eagerness with the revelation that the company we follow will
be wiped out to the last man. The film abandons that twist, and ends on a
cheery gungho note that seems incongruous for this day and age.)
The film's most important point is that the pernicious activities of racism
are not carried out just by the oppressors. The oppressed can catch the
infection and be just as cruel and destructive towards members of their
own race, in an attempt to please, or impress, or rebut, those who malign them.
This is an fresh and important idea, but cloaking it in a not terribly
interesting murder mystery was a mistake. The story would be better told
linearly than in flashback, particularly because Davenport, the framing
character, is severely underwritten. We learn too little about him, so
he remains an enigma, rather than serving as the unifying device, as was
probably intended. We are missing the scenes that tell us what his convictions
are, leaving him with little but a vague nobleness.
Howard E. Rollins, Jr., who was excellent in "Ragtime", does what he can with
Davenport, but the picture belongs to Adolph Caesar as Sgt. Waters. This
is one of the finest performances of the year. Caesar gradually peels back
the layers of Waters' character, revealing how he became what he was, and
what it has cost him. His triumph is making us pity a man whose actions
are too frequently calculated to destroy others. The supporting actors,
mostly black, are all quite good.
Norman Jewison, the film's director, shares the blame with Charles Fuller,
the screenwriter (and original playwright) for what fails to click in
"A Soldier's Story". Jewison has a long history of tackling socially
relevant subjects, going back to "In the Heat of the Night" in the 60s.
Unfortunately, Jewison almost always winds up capitalizing all his points.
When he gets hold of a subject he really cares about, subtlety is tossed
madly out the window. He is to be praised for his persistence in getting
the film made, and his desire to make a film on an important subject, and
for giving a lot of talented and underutilized black actors some
exposure. Unfortunately, what he actually did behind the camera is
steadfastly average.
"A Soldier's Story" is worth seeing, if only for Caesar's performance.
It has other virtues, particularly its subject matter. As far as
execution goes, though, it is unremarkable. Not bad at all, but not
special. Most films which fit into this category never had an
opportunity to be much better, so the artistic failures of "A Soldier's
Story" are particularly disappointing, as it could have been one of the
best films of the year.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherhania@rabbit.UUCP (Hania Gajewska) (09/21/84)
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Finally, a movie review in net.movies ! I will definitely see "A Soldier's Story" (I was sorry to have missed it when it was running as a play in New York). Now, anyone out there with a review of another play-to-movie that just opened, "Amadeus" ? The production I saw (3 times) of the play was so good that it's hard to imagine any movie could match it. Hania Gajewska
sdyer@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Dyer) (10/01/84)
I agree with Peter Reiher about this movie, and though it is flawed,
I definitely recommend that everyone see it.
I liked the audaciousness of the film itself, for it is rare to
see a Hollywood movie with an almost completely black cast, and
no "name" stars (with the exception of Howard E. Rollins Jr., who
made a big name for himself in "Ragtime" a few years ago.)
The acting is quite good, especially the sargent, Adolph Caesar,
and the ensemble of black recruits. Howard E. Rollins, Jr. is
OK, but seems rather uncomfortable with his character, which IS
severely underwritten. Often he comes off as a latter-day Sidney
Poitier character, all Dignity but little complexity. Other than that,
I found the script and Norman Jewison's direction surprisingly
subtle, without any easy answers. Even the white officers are not
written off as simply racist clowns, though their actions often
would suggest it.
I would classify this movie in the same category as "The Great Santini"
and "An Officer and a Gentlemen", though perhaps dealing with a
stronger social theme than either: well-crafted, though not perfect,
engaging the audience without insulting its intelligence. This past
Saturday when I saw it, the audience loved it.
--
/Steve Dyer
{decvax,linus,ima}!bbncca!sdyer
sdyer@bbncca.ARPA